The Opelousas courier., 1887-11-19

,.'a sf fsW g t thar tsd, y 70 .1 hsgs ;s5turned' ;
in Mrs. Gen. Bruce, who entered close Oh
MIR. C~onfnghanls heels, accompanied by my
niece and others.
shall tempt me on q mountain again, rest as:
I Eta, she s aRH 'HhBe' Saqu I'D You hd got Y bsoE,
Mrs. Cunningham ? We were. all nearly Of
us-3you see, we understood you never, wenI
in for climbing. And what ever guide did
you get7 We had. to put up With The yer1esi
ip,Rostors for gEides. DO believe it Wal
saved all our lives, for by changing our
course to reach you we discovered that what
we were standing on was one OF those aWful
corniees, and it gave way and fell CRASHING
1 of US had left it. We all stood speeohlesE,
/ staring at the gulf that had SO nearly swal-
/ loved us up and then you had disappeared,
Mr.. Cunningham declared. you were safe,
| Mrs. Gen. Bruce here stopped for breath and
looked around on us all. Elsa had become
verg, pale.
That is tmpossiblel" cried my niece.
1 I'VE all saw her-every one of us;." end she
looked for the others to confirm her words,
! Which they did-in q dogmatto manner bor-
There Couldn't possibly be another just
like Mrs. Cunningham, u broke in Mrs. Bruce
1 opoe morei land presently she will own al
about ut It, IT, In In The hen mebbn ant n rs PoqFg dhd, eTe #
think" she cried with Q shudder, ''where we
/ should all be now but for her!"
Every one has q double, SO it Is said, >
| CQn1ngham remarked in g hollow voice, and
with the weakest attempt at q smile | ever
1 saw,
The party dispersed, puzzled and a little
1 piqued, despite their reason for gratitude.
They were asked then to disbelieve their own
/ syes-their collective eyes. 1t was too much.
This was what was plainly visible on every
face as they Withdrew. As Mrs. Gen. Bruce
was departing, last of all, and a trlie more
rhutily" than the others, l said: You
opinion, even II you think my word un-
worthy Of belief-he should know his own
"And. he did seem 10 know her-at the
/ was about to follow and leave them alone,
but Elsa called me to her. Have you any
wish, dear ?" [ began. as I bent over her
a chair IT, do is i there anything you would like
ION, mon Dteu! but yes, I have a wish;
but 20, you cannot give me my visa. I wish
to Bk just like other women. Oh, It is so
hard to want to be only a weman-like the
nteIheureuSeE' ana she cast herself weeping
into her husbands arms. :.
'aop vii. !, leave us now, hiss Thompson. "
grateful to you. I know how you have ten
ded Elsa. I am glad she has so taken tossyou.
Be all you can to her" He spoke brekeniy
and as If with difficulty.
/ bowed my head. [ could not trust my
voice, | was so strangely moved.
As [ went ont | heard Carl's childish treble
saying cheese words:
Imade my way to the apartment I shared
with my niece. l found her at the door of
the room in conversation with Mrs. Bruce.
What should YOU conclude if you saw a
hvlngGperson ina place where she was not,
where she could not be?"' Rhoda was asking.
Il should conclude that that person was
going to die, Mrs. Gen. Bruce answered
promptly.
The words fell like a knell upon my heart.
mamma "G and I shall 1ai Die die t snset eg0n f diea
strange, sleep, her husbands unusual emo
ton, aall filled my mind with a tumult of
The following evening, table d'h6te being
over, several of us, including the Cunning
hams, were outside the hotel watching the
sun In his royal descent behind the mountain
sunset-except one9 and At may be that the
clasp Of a hard now COLI made the differ
snce. How boldly the MattSrhorn stood out
against the rosy, sold ct e.slly /! dow low
= An SoAS NSlII vi lAE1ku DO
the SUBMITS, as if loath to leave it
The mountaAQ will loom the more darkly
t fp9m t h mem msmofs Ehegfae sun is g9Iase,."1
in this !; f y nnlv to se 4ins f1as SUNS SHOULD fiee
| had uneonsciouslv spoken my thought
aloud, and Dir. Cunningham, who was next to
me, replied to it,.
still. Miss Thompson, one would not
the sun. 1t will surely make the
night seem less long to remember the day
that has been. In il is the germ of hope
that what has been can be again"
Elsa pressed her head. Joan and I are
not like Others, - she said.
A group OF guides were also watching the
sunset and discussing the weather in relation
to climbing.
Suddenly one of them exclaimed in Ger
'Herrgott, but that is the lady we sew |
Yesterday all alone upon the mountain !' and
he plainly Indicated Elsa.
Mrs. Gen. Bruce exchanged a meaning
glance with the gentleman next her.
The Co~ninghams re-entered the hotel. I
vent IL, too, and sat alone in the deserted
iining-room. Presently Mr.. Cunningham
me-. saw from his manner that he
had something important to communicate. I |
notlonGd hlnt to q seat near me.
Miss Thompson, u he began. hesitatingly, |
1 have a favor to ask of yor, and il it shontd
not be III your power 70 grant it. at least I
AXE, seeing it Is for Elsa's sake.n
l fastened to assure him that nothing
1se to Elsa.
but my proposal will strike o as so
ga, = ne went on. w have known each
,ther so short a time.D
[ begged him to consider me an old friend. |
md at once tell me in what way T could serve
lin.
IAN fright in supposing that Won have
10 ~tles-that is, no ties to keep you in one
place more than another ~ he asked.
Quite, right, y l answered, with o sigh
'ould not suppress. My niece will be re-
rs,J :, ~ hnnan. 4haa II kali
'aris-at least, I shall continue my wander
ngs. L have made no plans.'
Then, Miss Thompson, it becomes easier
Q make my request. VIII you return to
england n remain with lis our guest at
loninghsmHall for as long as you do not
ind it 0 o.d1lll for your.
l did not answer at first, being filed with
urpIIse: SO he went on:
Elsa has become so much attached to Won
he cannot bear the thoughtof q separation.a
At this point Elsa herself appeared and
dded her nv entreaties to those of her hns-
and II her pretty broken English. What
oHld | do but consent?
First l must deliver my niece ND to the
ands of her friends. then they might look
or me ct Cunningham Hall. Elsa imprinted a
rateful KISS upon my brow, as it to seal our
olnpact.
Two days later w3al babe farewell to the
Fps ana made our way to ,~England-the
'onln CHAINS to their country house in
omerset, | with Rhoda to London. 0
Cunningham Hall was situated iGRa hollow.
he small park which surrounded it was wild
" a large sheet of water. beautiful enona one
loa3 at with its island and overhanging
lilowss
1t was ON an August evening that I first
aW this stood still q moment to ad-
rise | was about to give Elsa for i was NOT
xpceted till the next day. As I looked NV
lood changed. A feeling of ~fear-almost Of
hold upo me. 50 beautiful a
ere should Be productive only of peace,
could have cried aloud in my narneless ter
~. l felt as if under a powerful control
grasp. -
/ moved with rapid steps to the very border
)mpeiied to eHter the watar-I hnI nnrasl. Z